Worth Watching

Byline: Lauren Kramer

The Goldene Medina exhibit is designed to have the feel of a scrapbook album, to have come from any Jewish South African’s family memoir. (photo from South African Jewish Museum)

The Goldene Medina exhibit arrives in Vancouver July 29 for two weeks. A celebration of 175 years of Jewish life in South Africa, the exhibit was displayed in South Africa, Australia and Israel prior to arriving here, where it is making its North America debut at Congregation Beth Israel. Local Jewish community member Stephen Rom, who is from South Africa, saw it for the first time in Sydney and was instrumental in bringing it to the city.

“You need to remember your past to engage in the present,” reflected Rom. “I was struck by the level of professionalism of this exhibit, which was produced by the South African Jewish Museum in Cape Town. What’s different about it is the way the stories have been written. Nobody is named or personally identified. This is the story of all Jews in South Africa, the community as a whole.”

The Goldene Medina was the Jews’ name for Johannesburg when they arrived during the gold rush in 1886. “This exhibition has soul – it’s not a dry exhibition of facts and figures,” noted Wendy Kahn, national director of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies. “It’s one that tells real stories of families that have been living in South Africa for 175 years.”

“This is a social history,” agreed Gavin Morris, director of the museum, “the story of families and people and their experiences as South Africans and as Jews for 175 years, from our forefathers arriving to contemporary Jewish South Africa. Everything is taken from unpublished memoirs, articles and out-of-print books, to give the exhibit a sense of a scrapbook album, of any Jewish South African’s family memoirs. Our goal was for people to find their own stories in similar stories.”

The stories are excerpts written in the first person and accompanied by photographs old and new. One excerpt, titled “My Mother’s Table,” reads, “At my mother’s table, ‘being full’ was never a reason to stop eating. Some of the many reasons to have some more included: ‘I cooked this especially for you because I know you like it,’ ‘you can’t put so little leftovers back into the fridge,’ ‘it’s freshly made,’ and ‘you don’t like my cooking.’ Refusing more was to snub the generosity and abundance that was on offer. Eating was proof that you were loved and that you knew how to love back.”

Another, titled “Cubs,” reads: “After my mom realized that I only knew Jewish kids, she sent me off to Cubs – not exactly your standard Jewish activity. I came home with my first friend and said, ‘Mom, isn’t it wonderful? Here’s my first friend from Cubs and guess what – we’ve got the same Hebrew teacher!’ He was the only other Jewish kid there and we found each other. My mother gave up after that.”

A third is titled “A Surprise Guest”: “What is the epitome of Jewish chutzpah? Inviting the president of the country to attend your bar mitzvah. And what is Jewish mazel? When the president actually accepts. The bar mitzvah boy delivered his handwritten note to a security guard outside [Nelson] Mandela’s Houghton estate. He hoped to get a card from Mandela in return. Instead, his parents received an official call to say the president will attend. On the day, President Mandela arrived and sat at the main table, between the bar mitzvah boy and his father.”

The excerpts are thought-provoking, poignant, entertaining, informative and never boring. And the photographs are deeply intriguing, telling a story of their own – a timeless Jewish story that has relevance to all Jews whose ancestors have known immigration and resettlement.

Accompanying the Goldene Medina in Vancouver will be the exhibit Shalom Uganda: A European Jewish Community on the Ugandan Equator 1949-1961, curated by Janice Masur.

The Kampala Jewish community gathers for visit of Chief Justice Joseph Herbstein from South Africa, 1958. Gifted by Ilsa Dokelman, in 2005. (photo from Janice Masur)

“As a child, I lived in this remote European Jewish community on the shores of Lake Victoria in Kampala, Uganda, under British Imperial rule, with no rabbi or Jewish infrastructure. Yet, this tiny community of 23 families and 20 children (15 of whom were born in Kampala) identified as Jews and formed a cohesive group that celebrated all the Jewish festivals together,” explained Masur. “Now that most references to Jews in Uganda pertain to … Abayudaya Jews, I want this history – my story about my Ashkenazi Jewish community in Kampala – to be remembered in the Jewish Diaspora.”

The photos and stories that comprise the Ugandan display are, said Masur, “a testament to a determined but isolated group of Jews who were secular in a [remote] place but upheld their Jewish identity and traditions as best as was possible,” given the lack of religious, educational or cultural Jewish institutions. (For more about the Ugandan Jewish community in which Masur grew up, click here.)

The July 29 opening night of the Goldene Medina starts at 7:30 p.m. at Beth Israel, where the display will be up until Aug. 14.

Lauren Kramer, an award-winning writer and editor, lives in Richmond. To read her work online, visit laurenkramer.net.

Adam Henderson stars in Jerusalem, at the Jericho Arts Centre June 7-30. (photo from United Players)

The play Jerusalem by Jez Butterworth sees its debut in Vancouver this month at the Jericho Arts Centre and its lead actor, Adam Henderson, is a member of the Vancouver Jewish community.

Henderson grew up in New York City, moved to Winnipeg as a teenager and, after studying and working as an actor in England for 20 years, relocated to Vancouver in 2000. “I wanted to have a more balanced life than was possible in England, with more time to raise a family,” said Henderson, who is married with two children at home ages 5 and 12.

Asked about his Jewish identity, he said he describes himself as “a New York Jew from a mixed upbringing, but Jewish by birth and culturally interested.”

Henderson’s acting career began at the Manitoba Theatre Centre when he was 17 and has taken him all over the world, including to Israel, where he starred in War Shepherds in the 1980s. Today, in addition to doing live theatre, he teaches accents and dialects at the Vancouver Film School, and voice acting at the University of British Columbia. As a dialect coach, he specializes in helping other actors with their accents and dialogues, and he records audiobooks, too. “Vancouver doesn’t easily support actors, so we have to do other things to make our acting happen,” he explained.

As he rehearsed for Jerusalem – a play that references a poem by William Blake and not the holy city of Jerusalem – he was also working on Altered Carbon, a television show for which he’s coaching an actor from Berlin to sound more American. “It’s exciting for me because my family is originally from Berlin and I have a strong connection with the city,” he told the Independent.

Jerusalem, presented by United Players, is about a squatter called Johnny “Rooster” Byron and his retinue, and has a cast of about 16, Henderson said. “It’s quite a remarkable play and was made famous by Mark Rylance, one of my heroes, who played the role of Rooster. It’s a great adventure taking on a role that he’s put his stamp on, and it’s both intimidating and inspiring, because he sets the bar quite high!”

Henderson said anyone who enjoys classical theatre will enjoy Jerusalem, a play rich in language and “quite epic.” As for his lifestyle move to Vancouver almost two decades ago, that’s worked out well, he added.

“I have a successful family and I can organize my schedule to be there to raise my kids. In London, I was constantly busy with my career and, though it’s an exciting place to work, it’s harder in that environment to have a stable life. In Vancouver, I don’t travel much and there’s more contact with nature, which I find calming.”

Jerusalem runs June 7-30 at the Jericho Arts Centre. Tickets, which range from $22-$28, are available at the door or online at unitedplayers.com.

Lauren Kramer, an award-winning writer and editor, lives in Richmond. To read her work online, visit laurenkramer.net.

The interior of Paradesi Synagogue in Kochi, India. (photo by Lauren Kramer)

Dec. 6 marked an emotional homecoming for Canadian siblings Linda Hertzman and Kenny Salem. The pair were among some 180 Jews who returned to their birthplace in Kochi, India, to mark the 450th anniversary of the Paradesi Synagogue in the neighbourhood known as Jew Town. Three generations of families gathered from Israel, Australia, Canada and England to celebrate the milestone. They walked the ancient stone pathway of Synagogue Lane, spoke their native tongue of Malayalam and congregated in the synagogue for a festive celebration of the Jewish life that once flourished in this corner of southern India.

The festivities were tinged with sadness, however. For many, it would be their final visit to the beautiful Paradesi Synagogue. The shul is unique for its colourful oil lamps and a Torah scroll decked in a gold crown that was gifted to the community in 1802 by the maharaj of Cochin. (Kochi is the preferred term for the city formerly called Cochin.) The handpainted Chinese tiles on the synagogue floor have long since emptied of worshippers and the Jewish community of Jew Town now numbers just five – the oldest of them age 96. It’s tourists that stand beneath the oil lamps these days, visiting from dawn to dusk to marvel at the ancient Jewish history and try to comprehend its relevance. Opportunities for congregational prayer have been rare since most of the community left for other parts of the world from 1948 onwards.

On the Shabbat following the 450th anniversary, however, tourists were turned away from the Paradesi Synagogue and the sanctuary again echoed with Jewish prayer. The pews were filled with women in colourful dresses, reaching out to touch the ancient Torah scrolls as they were lifted joyfully from the aron hakodesh (holy ark) for morning prayers. Tears streamed down the faces of Jews for whom the synagogue was filled with rich memories. There were children who were seeing their families’ history for the first time and elders who were stepping into the synagogue for the last time. Adults in their 60s recalled their childhood memories of watching their parents pray in the synagogue, of riding their bicycles around the narrow roads of Mattancherry and of the warm, deeply religious and meaningful Jewish life that existed in Jew Town.

Paradesi Synagogue, also known as Mattancherry Synagogue, is the building in the back. (photo by Lauren Kramer)

The vibrant hub of Jewish life in Kochi, Jew Town was home to three synagogues, each serving different segments of the community. The “synagogue in the middle,” with a star of David still etched in its concrete, is now a repurposed building, while the southernmost shul is a ramshackle 900-year-old structure, its rafters occupied by nesting pigeons. Indentations on the side of many of the doors of homes and businesses in Jew Town mark the spot where mezuzot used to announce a Jewish home and the large Jewish cemetery a few minutes’ walk from the shul is unlikely to be filled with many more graves as the years roll by. The Jewish life that flourished here has become a lucrative business for antique dealers and souvenir shops selling scarves and trinkets, retailers loitering outside and using all their powers of persuasion to bring shoppers in.

Hertzman, who lives in Richmond, B.C., and Salem, from Richmond Hill, Ont., were the first guests to check into what was their family home, recently transformed into a boutique hotel called A.B. Salem House. It was named for their late grandfather, Abraham Barak Salem, an attorney known as the “Jewish Gandhi” for his negotiations with Israel that enabled the Jews of Kochi to make aliyah.

Kenny Salem left Kochi at age 25 in 1987 and returns to the city annually to see his childhood friends. “It was good to have everyone back here in Jew Town,” he said. “Friends and family were walking in and out of our house all day long, just like old times, when my mother had her door open to everyone. But the sad part is that, in the aftermath of the celebrations, Jew Town is silent once again.”

There are plans to fill that silence in the near future. David Hallegua, a spokesperson for the Cochin Synagogue Trust, announced plans to build a museum dedicated to the history of the Kochi Jews in the hall above the synagogue.

“It’s a dwindling community,” admitted Salem. “So, when there are no longer any Jews living here, we will hand the management of the synagogue and cemetery over to the Archeological Department of India. We need to tell the story of the Jewish community that once lived here and pass on this message to future generations.”

Lauren Kramer, an award-winning writer and editor, lives in Richmond. To read her work online, visit laurenkramer.net.

Tal Grinfas-David of the Centre for Israel Education speaks with educators at Vancouver Talmud Torah last month. (photo from VTT)

Educators at Lower Mainland Jewish day schools had the opportunity to consider the relevance of Israel literacy last month, when Tal Grinfas-David, the Centre for Israel Education’s day school specialist, was in town the week of Feb. 18 to deliver a talk on the subject and work with local teachers and administrators. Her keynote speech, titled Teaching Modern Israel – Challenges and Opportunities, was part of a community professional development day.

The CIE, which is based in Atlanta, Ga., received a grant for a three-year initiative to work with nine Jewish day schools across North America and help them enhance their Israel education efforts. Vancouver Talmud Torah and King David High School are two of the nine schools and Grinfas-David spent a day coaching educators at each of them. She will return for the next two years to reinforce the changes CIE is promoting.

The issue, she said, is that, across North America, many graduates of Jewish day school education don’t have enough Israel literacy to grapple with the world, to justify a strong connection to Israel and to inform their Jewish identity.

“The concept we’re promoting is to turn Israel education into something all teachers can support, not just Jewish studies faculty,” she told the Independent. The desire is there, she added. “The Vancouver community is very supportive and wants to see Israel education boosted and incorporated into different subject areas. But it’s going to be a long-term process.”

Tal Grinfas-David (photo from Centre for Israel Education)

No stranger to education, Grinfas-David comes to her role with a PhD in curriculum and instruction and 25 years as an educator in Israel and the United States. Over the next three years, she will move between Jewish day schools in Denver, Los Angeles, Detroit, New Jersey and Vancouver, coaching their educational teams.

“We’re thrilled to have this grant to visit the individual sites and get to know the different schools’ cultures,” she said. “Each school is different and unique, with strengths and challenges, and this grant allows us to customize and tailor our offerings to specific communities.”

The goal of Israel literacy is to graduate Jewish students who understand the relevance of Israel in their lives and feel confident in their knowledge. They need this, she said, because understanding Judaism means understanding it’s not solely a religion.

“It’s also a belonging to a peoplehood, a nation with a Jewish homeland,” she said. “To understand modern Israel today, we have to see it as a continuation of our Jewish history.”

Grinfas-David said she would need three days to address all the ways that Israel literacy counts significantly in the life of a Jew.

“Israel impacts how Jews live in other countries, like the U.S. and Canada, where we are free. Students at our Jewish day schools have never experienced powerlessness or persecution, as they have the good fortune of being born here and now, with many freedoms. But that’s all the more reason to have them understand it was not always like this for Jews.

“Being part of a nation means there is an obligation to support your people, because of your fortune,” she continued. “There’s a calling to engage and to reflect on what Israel means for these students in their lives. Israel literacy is about having a repertoire of primary sources under your belt, so that when students leave the school setting and hear different narratives, they’ll be critical consumers of information, and they’ll know the facts they need. At CEI, our goal is to give them the ability and the opportunity to have the confidence to be critical consumers.”

Lauren Kramer, an award-winning writer and editor, lives in Richmond. To read her work online, visit laurenkramer.net.

A couple years ago, I sat smugly through a lecture on helicopter parenting, feeling fully confident that nothing spoken during that time applied to me. Who were these overly involved parents who just couldn’t let go, even once their kids had left for college? They were nothing like me, I thought. I’d been an early advocate of children’s independence in my community, encouraging my kids to navigate Vancouver’s public transit alone at the age of 12. My 9-year-old daughter walks around Steveston Village with her best friend and my 15-year-old girls have flown to the United States on their own. I thought I had the helicopter mom in me under control – until my son left for college.

That’s when my over-protective mama-bear instincts kicked into gear, where they remain on high alert. How do you protect your child when they’re so far from home? And where is the line between supportive help and concern, and running your child’s life instead of allowing them to live it on their own? These days, I ponder these questions a great deal, my stomach churning with anxiety as I contemplate all the unseen dangers my son could encounter in the absence of his mother’s watchful eyes and words of cautious advice.

Yesterday, a phone call. “Mom, the craziest thing happened as I was walking to school this morning,” he declared. “I was crossing the road at the traffic lights when a hard tug on my backpack pulled me backwards. I stepped back just as a car ran a red light, flying past inches away from me. I was so close to being hit!”

The vision torments me as I write this, my child so close to life-threatening danger. I worry now about more cars hurtling at breakneck speed on those icy roads that separate his dorm room from his lecture halls. About his reading break, when he’ll be a passenger on the icy 401, his safety at the mercy of drivers I’ve never met. About his plans to go ice fishing in the Muskokas – what if the ice breaks?

This precious, precious child of mine is so excited to experience the world in all its beauty, to challenge his personal limits and dive deep into the friendships and opportunities that surround him. I want all this for him, of course. He is growing, thriving and learning with every turn in this journey far from home. Yet I cannot stop the worry for his vulnerability, nor the fear of “what if?” that pesters my mind incessantly. If that’s the whirring of helicopter parenting, then I’m guilty as sin.

As parents, it’s not always easy to know when to step back and when to be actively involved, particularly when our children head off to college. It’s natural for us to want to protect our kids, said Julie Lythcott-Haims, who published the book How to Raise an Adult after witnessing years of helicopter parenting when she was dean of freshmen at Stanford University. “We love our children fiercely and we’re fearful about what the world has in store for them. But we make the mistake of … being like a concierge in their lives.” (See jewishindependent.ca/ dont-helicopter-parent.)

If I’m a concierge in my kids’ life, let it be known I’m a darn good one. Case in point: my son recently signed a lease on an apartment with a friend-who-turned-out-not-to-be-a-friend, and needed to get out fast. The management company delivered a virtual shrug when he asked for his money back. “We’re not in a position to do refunds,” they told my 18-year-old. At that age, you don’t necessarily know how to respond to a statement like that. But, when you’re 46, you do. You call the company’s chief financial officer and let them know in no uncertain terms that a refund needs to be forthcoming. Posthaste. Voila, the cheque arrived.

I canvassed a mom’s group to ask for their definitions of helicopter parenting, hoping they might help identify the line between caring, support and over-involvement in the lives of college-age kids. You might be a helicopter parent, they suggested, if:

You know your kids’ passwords so you can register them on time for courses.

You have been known to call your kids’ instructor/professor, suggest they graded an essay, test or exam unfairly and insist that they reconsider the grade.

You proofread and edit your kids’ college essays because you want them to get the best results possible.

You feel compelled to step in and prevent your kids from making mistakes.

I suspect we all want to shelter our children from making awful, life-changing mistakes, so we try to gently guide them around the sharp curves of young adulthood, intervening perhaps too often in our efforts to break their fall. There is deep love in this act, a love that stretches way back to their infancy and embeds us with the certainty that our children are our richest legacies, irreplaceable treasures we want and need to hold close. There will be times when we teeter on the line of over-protectiveness, when the whirring sounds of helicopter parenting will be obvious to those around us. But the best we can do is walk the line, treading with the utmost care. Trust me, it’s much harder than it sounds.

Lauren Kramer, an award-winning writer and editor, lives in Richmond. To read her work online, visit laurenkramer.net.

Phillipa Friedland is trying to raise funds to sustain basic facilities at the Population and Immigration Authority in B’nei Brak, where thousands must go to renew or obtain visas to remain in the country. (photo from gofundme.com/restrooms-for-refugees-israel)

When she left Vancouver for Israel more than a year-and-a-half ago, Phillipa Friedland, 54, became involved in social activism. Today, she is trying to raise funds to sustain basic facilities like toilets and seating at the Population and Immigration Authority (PIBA) in B’nei Brak, where thousands must go to renew or obtain visas to remain in the country. The Independent interviewed Friedland recently to find out more about her involvement.

Jewish Independent: When did you learn about the work of the Population and Immigration Authority?

Phillipa Friedland (photo courtesy)

Phillipa Friedland: I met an Eritrean refugee at the passport office when my daughter Eli and I lived in Israel in 2014, and we became friends. At the end of February, the Israeli government abruptly closed the South Tel Aviv PIBA office and left a note in Hebrew, not the first language of any refugees, stating that the PIBA office had moved to B’nei Brak, to a very large, barren parking lot in an industrial part of the city. I went with my friend to hand in his form and he waited in line six times, just to hand in the paper.

JI: You’re not happy with the facilities PIBA is providing. Why?

PB: The B’nei Brak municipality refuses to provide shade, toilets, water or seating for those who wait in line. Once refugees gain entry, there are ablution facilities and seating. However, there are approximately 40,000 refugees and the only places to apply for or renew visas are in Eilat and B’nei Brak. Knowing that thousands of people would converge on these centres, the government should have done infrastructural planning to accommodate such numbers.

Activists at the site have confided that, since the government closed the detention centres and refugee prison, they are using PIBA as a “soft” place to repel the refugees. They can no longer threaten them with prison or repatriation to a third African country, since these negotiations fell apart when it was revealed that these are not safe-haven countries for refugees. So, the goal is for the refugees to become so frustrated and disheartened by the visa process that they will voluntarily leave.

JI: How many asylum seekers are using PIBA in B’nei Brak, and where are they from?

PB: Most Sudanese have left Israel, so most of the PIBA users are from Eritrea. Some days, there are over 1,000 people there, though, in recent days [in late May], the number has dropped dramatically, as more refugees are given visas. Families are provided with six-month visas and single men are given two-month visas. They are required to take off work and are not paid when they leave to wait for a visa. By contrast, in many countries, a visa application can be obtained online.

JI: Are these asylum seekers also refugees, or a mixture of both?

PB: The Israeli government says they are all economic migrants. It has granted asylum to 11 people – a very poor showing for a country of refugees ourselves. The government … considers them infiltrators. In fact, the education minister declared openly on public TV that the migrants are infiltrators. It stuns me that a nation that promised to never forget has an education minister that has forgotten the persecution the Jews experienced.

JI: What are you doing at PIBA?

PB: After visiting the PIBA in B’nei Brak, I was compelled to take action. I was reviled by apartheid South Africa, and taught about the perils of discrimination and racism for 15 years at the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre. I could not just watch quietly.

I decided to sponsor two toilets for a month in the barren parking lot where the refugees line up. These cost $600 per month. I also bought 10 benches, seating for only 50 people. Unfortunately, this is all that I could personally afford.

The toilets were so direly needed that, after three days at the site, I paid additional fees to have them emptied, as the company I lease them from only empties them once a week. Myself and an Eritrean lady, Sabrina, clean them when we are on-site, replenish the toilet paper and spray them with toilet spray.

I realized that I could not sustain this expense every month on my own, as I am an immigrant and earn a salary commensurate with working in a nonprofit organization. So I decided to start a GoFundMe Campaign called “Restrooms for Refugees.” So far, I have raised [almost $3,000]. The Good People Fund run by Naomi Eisenberg in New Jersey is donating $1,800 over three months. [gofundme.com/restrooms-for-refugees-israel]

The B’nei Brak site has been running very effectively thanks to amazing Eritrean volunteers who ensure the lines run smoothly and that people get a turn. One of them is Michael, who left Eritrea after 15 years in forced military conscription; he had 10 years still to complete. His back has many scars from being tortured in the military. He left his wife and four children behind and hopes to come to Canada, where his brother is living.

JI: What do you want Jewish Vancouverites to know about this? Why is it important to you personally, and why should it be important to us?

PB: I believe that, as Diaspora Jews, we have rose-coloured glasses on when it comes to Israel. I love and support Israel, however that does not mean I support racist and discriminatory government policies. Eighteen Jewish U.S. Democratic senators spoke out about Israel’s refugee policy and 400 rabbis, pilots, teachers and other groups spoke out vehemently against the deportation policy the government was adopting. Since Israel first accepted and then rejected the UN’s offer to Israel regarding the refugees, there has been no new Israeli policy. The refugees essentially live in limbo, renewing their visas and being treated with no dignity.

I believe we should treat everyone with dignity. I know that, being such a small country, Israel cannot open its doors to an unlimited number of people. However, those strangers within our Jewish borders should be treated with care, as commanded 37 times in the Torah.

Lauren Kramer, an award-winning writer and editor, lives in Richmond. To read her work online, visit laurenkramer.net.

As a longtime reviewer of recipe books, I’ve come to realize there are two distinct categories in this genre. One is the practical cookbook you leave open on your kitchen counter while cooking. It delivers bright, inspiring images that lift you out of the doldrums of your everyday repertoire and offers concise, clear instructions using as little text as possible. Bottom line: it’s super-practical. The second kind is more of a bedside reading book, more literature than cooking aid. It comes with lengthy introductions and reflections on what particular recipes mean to the author and it’s not a book to pull out if you need to bake a quick batch of chocolate chip cookies for the last-minute guests about to arrive or the kids coming home from school.

This latter category perfectly fits Daphna Rabinovitch’s cookbook The Baker In Me (Whitecap Books, 2016), which received the top prize in the single subject cookbook category at the Taste Canada Awards earlier this year. The Jewish author of this 478-page tome has superb credentials that include director of Canadian Living magazine’s test kitchen, studies in Italy and co-authoring a host of other books, which have received accolades from culinary and literary critics. In this, her first solo book, she aims squarely at the ordinary baker and spends many pages explaining the basics for successful results making cookies, bars, chocolate, muffins, breads, cakes, pies and other desserts.

You’ll want to read these essays slowly and quietly before you tackle the recipes, which is why I recommend this book as good bedside reading. Thanks to Rabinovitch’s many years in the field, she has a plethora of baking tips and gems to share. She offers pragmatic advice on the art of measuring ingredients, the variety of cooking techniques (convection versus radiant) and what they are best used for, when to use chocolate instead of cocoa powder, and how to make your biscuits flaky.

Jewish readers will enjoy her challah, rugelach, Rosh Hashanah honey cakes and Passover recipes. Kid-size bakers will love the oversized peanut butter and oat cookies, the fudgy brownies and the peek-a-boo chocolate cupcakes. And grownup bakers will enjoy the challenge of a chocolate devil’s food cake with chocolate buttercream, One Damn Good Cookie, and the chocolate truffle pecan tart with spun sugar dome. There is lots here to impress friends and family with special occasion and everyday treats. But, as the title suggests, this cookbook is all about baking, so don’t approach it with a dieter’s caution. This is high-calorie fare. We’re talking the full mix of butter, sugar and chocolate with no concessions for waistlines.

Rabinovitch’s recipes aren’t that complicated or out of reach for a beginner baker, but there’s a fair amount of reading involved if you want to be sure you’re baking them the right way. For bakers who are keen learners, her expert viewpoint and strategic advice will add volumes to their knowledge of baking. For bakers who just want to get straight to the recipe with no lengthy reading process, this may not be the right choice for a handy kitchen companion.

Lauren Kramer, an award-winning writer and editor, lives in Richmond. To read her work online, visit laurenkramer.net.

Jessica Cohn and her kids, Tamara and Jeremy, created the Friend Send to help others across Canada. (photo from Jessica Cohn)

Last October, Jessica Cohn, a Vaughan, Ont., mother of 10-year-old twins Tamara and Jeremy, was scrolling through Facebook when she found messages by other mothers that disturbed and saddened her.

“They were saying their kids were down because no one had come to their birthday parties,” Cohn recalled. “I told my kids and they immediately wanted to attend those parties, which was impossible because the children were located all over Canada.” Instead, the trio opted for the next best thing: to send those children birthday cards so they would feel less alone and more cared for. They got to work right away.

That initiative turned into the Friend Send, the Cohns’ personal mitzvah mission, which quickly extended beyond birthday cards to children 12 and under experiencing bullying or feeling friendless and lonely. Cohn and her children have sent 240 cards across the country.

“My kids have written on almost every card, and they love doing this,” she told the Independent. “We have a huge card box and they go through it to select a card they think a particular child would like. Once they’ve written their message, I add my own.”

When Annie Miron first heard about the idea, she was skeptical, but the Nanaimo mom was worried about her daughter, Trinity, 12, who was having a hard time making friends. “People were picking on her behind her back and she was really depressed, thinking all kids are mean,” she said. “A couple months ago, when I told Jessica what Trinity was going through, she sent a card and a letter in the mail.”

The card was deeply meaningful to her daughter, said Miron. “It told her that she mattered and that people cared about her, so she understood there are nice kids out there. After that, her attitude changed drastically and everything turned around for her at school. This positive message really does work and Jessica and her children saved our family.”

Dawn Chouinard, a Westbank, B.C., mother, has also seen a change in her 13-year-old daughter, Kate-lynn Grist, who was being bullied at school and was feeling friendless.

“She was so ecstatic when she received a card and it made such a difference to know that people were rooting for her,” Chouinard told the Independent. “The Friend Send is a really good idea because it can make a big difference to a child when a stranger gives you that boost, and it doesn’t come from mom or dad. Kate-lynn is a little more confident at school now, and I’ve noticed that, if she sees someone else struggling, she might be more inclined to offer them a word of encouragement now.”

Cohn has used Facebook to spread word of the Friend Send, and has heard some heartbreaking stories of children experiencing harrowing times. It’s her hope that the cards will give them the lift they need, the reminder that there are caring people out there offering support and encouragement, and that the bullying or isolation they are experiencing on the playground or sports field are not representative of the world at large.

“What surprised me was how many requests we get for cards for boys – way more than what we get for girls,” she said. She shared the experience of Cody, a child who started playing hockey later in life because his parents couldn’t afford the lessons. He was less skilled than the other kids and, as a result, they wouldn’t let him join their game. “It made me so sad, because he loved the game so much, and for him to be excluded because he was less skilful was heartbreaking,” Cohn said.

“I spend a long time talking with the parents on Facebook, especially the mothers, because I find they often don’t have anyone to support or understand them. People don’t understand how hard it is to see your child coming home crying every day. When their children receive some encouragement, this support means so much to them.”

If there’s one message Cohn wants to convey to parents of children who are being bullied, it’s not to be embarrassed about what is going on. “I wish I could tell every parent out there how special their children are, and how much love and respect they deserve,” Cohn said.

Twenty-three students from Metro Vancouver joined more than 10,000 other students in this year’s March of the Living. They are pictured here with Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver board chair Karen James, far left, and trip chaperones Susan Siklos, standing to James’ left, and Charlotte Katzen, standing fourth from the right. (photo by Jennifer Freedman)

Twenty-three Grade 11 and 12 students from Metro Vancouver headed to Poland and Israel on the annual March of the Living last month, and nine of those were students from public schools. In the past, Vancouver has sent about 14 students every couple of years. The increased numbers this year were the result of outreach by a volunteer committee headed by Charlotte Katzen.

“March of the Living is a life transforming experience,” she told the Independent. “Every participant will tell you that. It strengthens students’ Jewish identity, their understanding of who they are as Jews in the world today and their commitment to Israel.”

Katzen helped assemble a video in which march alumni, their parents and Holocaust survivors talked about their experience, the impact of the journey on young people and how important it is for them to become a witness. The committee showed the video in open houses at King David High School and at Jewish afterschool programs and other Jewish venues.

“When march alumni tell their friends, ‘You have no idea how impactful this journey is,’ it’s a powerful message and they want to join,” said Katzen about the video.

March of the Living is not an inexpensive venture, so Katzen worked with Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver to help secure funding for students who couldn’t afford the trip.

“Federation really came through,” she said. “We’ve not yet reached the point of having sufficient funding, but, this year, Federation made a commitment that no child would be turned away. That commitment enabled us to say, during our outreach, ‘Don’t worry about your financial situation. If you want to go, you will go.’”

Federation offset the cost of the trip by $2,000 for each participant using funds raised by the annual campaign. Scholarships were also offered to families that needed them.

Noa Platner, a Grade 12 student at King David, was one of the participants. She described her time in Poland as “very hard, intense in a way I didn’t expect. We’d go to the camps and hear the story of a specific family, which helped us feel really connected,” she reflected. “But it was very hard, and it crushes you on the inside. I realized all the people who went through the Holocaust had their own individual stories. You always hear the number of people, but you don’t think of the emotions they felt.”

For Trevin Kiel, a Grade 11 student at Hugh Boyd Secondary School in Richmond, the march, which was attended by more than 10,000 Jewish students worldwide this year, was an opportunity to get a sense of the scale of the Holocaust. “I wanted to see what 10,000 Jews looked like, to compare it to six million,” he said. The stories of Nazi brutality were hard to absorb, he admitted, “but we debriefed every night as a group, and it felt reassuring to share our feelings with others and know they were feeling the same way.”

Kiel had visited Israel previously with his family, but said this time was much different. “It was the best trip I’ve ever been on, it was just so much fun and such an eye-opening experience.”

The group was in Israel for Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut.

“I didn’t expect it would be an emotional time but I was more emotional in Israel than at the camps in Poland,” Platner said. “After all we Jews have been through already, to realize we’re still fighting and innocent people are dying was very crushing. But one of our guides told us we should feel proud that we’re still standing, strong enough to fight this time and do the best we can.”

Katzen helped prepare the students before they left Vancouver and participated in the march as well, co-chaperoning this year’s trip with Susan Siklos; Federation board chair Karen James was also part of the group.

“The students bond with each other and become so close by the end of the trip,” Katzen observed. “We grieve and celebrate collectively and we become one big, beautiful, coherent family. This trip changes them profoundly and makes them stronger, more tolerant of others and of each other.”

Being in Israel for Yom Hazikaron was no minor detail of the itinerary. “They realize, on Yom Hazikaron, that having a homeland comes at a very high cost,” said Katzen. “We can celebrate but we have to be aware that our homeland also has very tragic stories.”

A guide on the trip shared with Vancouver students the story of a friend who was ambushed and killed while serving in the military. “It’s one story of thousands,” Katzen said, “but the kids understood how difficult it is for families to put their own children’s lives at such high risk in order for the country to exist. They got it.”

Kiel and Platner both agreed that their participation in March of the Living has changed them in ways they’re only beginning to understand.

“My Jewish identity has changed,” Platner said. “I feel a stronger sense of purpose to follow the traditions and be a part of my community in honour of those who died and are still dying for our nation.”

Kiel said, prior to the march, if non-Jewish friends at school made jokes about Jews or about the Holocaust he would get angry or frustrated. “Now I feel like I can educate people on why it’s wrong to make jokes like that, and make sure they never tell a joke like that again,” he said. “If they knew the scale of the Holocaust, they wouldn’t make jokes.”

He’s returned with a stronger Jewish identity, he added. “I’ve started to wrap tefillin two to three times a week now. It reminds me of the trip and the memories I made there.”

He said, “I know there are lots of other trips that go to Poland, but not like this one.”

Platner agreed. “March of the Living gave me a sense of hope, pride and belonging.”

For information on joining a future March of the Living trip, contact Federation or visit marchoftheliving.org.

Lauren Kramer, an award-winning writer and editor, lives in Richmond. To read her work online, visit laurenkramer.net.

If there’s one Jewish personality in Vancouver that almost everyone knows, it’s Jordan Zwicker. The man behind many of the city’s Jewish celebrations, Zwicker, 42, has been enlivening Vancouver parties since 2003, when he first arrived here from Toronto, seeking a change of pace. Recently, he rebranded his company as Jordan Zwicker Entertainment and is now exclusively offering interactive parties that promise to get everyone excited, and onto the dance floor.

Previously, Zwicker’s roster of services included DJ-driven events with music but no interactivity with guests. He has changed up the format, with positive results.

“The kids we’re entertaining at most Jewish events are age 12 and they need motivation to create atmosphere and have a great time,” he explained. “In a personality-driven show like ours we bring a motivator who creates an experience that engages everyone. By comparison, a purely DJ-driven event doesn’t lend itself to a great, engaging environment because, without anyone running the show, the kids don’t know what to do.”

Zwicker and his team – five DJs, two dancers and a party planner – have relaunched the company’s crew with a group of dancers from Dance Play who will lead the parties. “We’re coming up with the newest songs and creating our own choreographed moves to teach to kids at parties,” he said. “Every event will have at least one new flavour to distinguish it and we’re constantly coming up with new ideas for games and including them in our shows.”

Thanks to 25 years in the business, a passion for parties and a deep understanding of how they work, Zwicker knows how to engage kids and adults at a party.

“We look at an event as a produced show with lots of elements and coordination required,” he reflected. “There’s dinner, kids’ games, interactive dance sets, slide shows, speeches, dessert and more dancing. We’re always doing something because we’re running the party. We also offer other entertainment options, like photo booths with a magic mirror, a graffiti wall, an airbrush artist and a magician. Basically, we’re a one-stop shop where you can take care of everything with one call.”

Today, bar and bat mitzvahs constitute up to 60% of business, with weddings, corporate events, schools and private events comprising the remaining 40%. Zwicker works in Metro Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary and Winnipeg but says he loves the parties so much, he feels like he’s never worked a day in his life. Getting to know families in the Jewish community is an essential part of his work and one he thoroughly enjoys.

“As an entertainment company, we are friends with the parents and the kids, because the kids are our business. We take the time and effort to get to know them and learn their preferences because, when we do a party, we’re all in this together,” he said. “The kids appreciate the fact that we’re on their level and we ensure that they and their friends enjoy their event and that we don’t lose their attention. We charge what we charge for that very reason: there’s a value behind it – the experience and expertise that’s kept us as the entertainment leader in Vancouver.”